Huh? Sorry, while I won't advocate keeping trout in a tank, it has more to do with size and temp--trout are adaptable to just about all water chemistries. They occupy almost every riverine system in the world, and have thrived in many waters they were introduced to. Eastern US native trout, including brook trout, have been introduced to the West from their native waters, and thrive, outcompeting the native cutthroat trout. Brown trout were introduced from Asia and Europe, and thrive in US waters, with a huge range in pH, hardness, turbidity, etc. Cutthroat trout are mountain fish, but most other salmonids do not originate from mountain spring waters, and I'm not aware of any that must have 'spring water' to survive. Sorry.
Is there a tropic fish similar to a rainbow trout?
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Huh? Sorry, while I won't advocate keeping trout in a tank, it has more to do with size and temp--trout are adaptable to just about all water chemistries. They occupy almost every riverine system in the world, and have thrived in many waters they were introduced to. Eastern US native trout, including brook trout, have been introduced to the West from their native waters, and thrive, outcompeting the native cutthroat trout. Brown trout were introduced from Asia and Europe, and thrive in US waters, with a huge range in pH, hardness, turbidity, etc. Cutthroat trout are mountain fish, but most other salmonids do not originate from mountain spring waters, and I'm not aware of any that must have 'spring water' to survive. Sorry.
My lake always has a few trout in it each year. Hardly any current, no deeper than 10 feet in most places.
OrionGirl is right. Trout don't need spring water, but they do need cold clean water, as they have high oxygen requirements. Trout live in lakes, and that water isn't constantly moving. Well, I suppose it is, but not as much as a stream/river. It is very possible to keep trout in an aquarium, just harder than keeping tropical fish, as long as the water didn't get over 65°F and you had a strong filtration system. I would say a 250 gallon tank would be the minimum, although if you kept brook trout you could probably do a 175 since I don't think they get much longer than 20 inches, even in ideal conditions in the wild. Rainbow and brown trout seem to have a wider tolerance for water conditions though. I'm not sure how powerful of a chiller you would need to keep a tank that cool, but it would probably be rather expensive. Oh yeah, it would also be against the law to keep trout as pets in some states.
Trout do not need constant spring water. They need cold clean water. Like others have said they can be found in ponds, lakes, and rivers. There was a really great article in aquarium fish magazine a couple of years ago about keeping brook trout in an aquarium. Beautiful fish. I was actually looking into having a trout tank in my basement, still may. It may be illegal in some states but you can also talk to local fish hatcheries to get trout from them. A trout tank would be unique and interesting.
someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think brook trout have a higher water condition requirement than do rainbow or brown trout. You are right Caz they don't get as large as the other species do though.
Brook and other trout need the same clean water--but this mostly relates to nitrogen, not to turbidity. Most fish will be fine and dandy in water that is very cloudy and impossible to see through, as long as the nitrogen levels are good. Of course, low levels of ammonia for an aquarium are much, much higher than acceptable levels for a natural system--ammonia testing in local rivers and lake comes back for ppb, compared to the ppm that most hobby kits detect.
brown trout though larger I believe inhabit much wider range of areas I have caught them in streams, rivers, lakes and seen them in ponds. They live in some fairly poluted areas as well so must be fairly tough.
<Edited. Please refrain from using words that our profanity filter would filter out.> -Richer
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